AMFA was certified at Southwest Airlines on January 27, 2003, and the Association currently represents over 2,700 members who maintain the airlines fleet of Boeing 737 aircraft. The current contracts become amendable August 16, 2012 for the Aircraft Maintenance Technicians and February 16, 2017 for the Appearance Technicians.

January 7, 2019 -- We’ve been hearing the same thing for more than a year — Southwest Airlines will soon be flying to Hawaii from California. Well, here we are in January 2019 — and the goalposts keep shifting. Here’s what’s really happening.

December 21, 2018 -- 19 whistleblower complaints have been brought to the FAA in the last two years by Southwest Airlines Aircraft Maintenance Technicians. How does this impact the “safety culture” and how do we move forward? Read our take here.

November 20, 2018 -- Your Negotiating Committee convened in Dallas, TX this week. On Monday, November 19, 2018, we met with the mediator in advance of our scheduled one-day session with the Company. On Tuesday morning, November 20, we convened with the new Company Committee. The only two individuals from the Company’s previous committee are Bill Venckus and Mark Lyons. The rest of the Company Committee, including its lead spokesperson, are at the table for the first time.

October 11, 2018 -- The AMFA–SWA AMT Rejected Tentative Agreement (TA) Survey concluded at 11:59 pm et on October 9, 2018. The AMFA–SWA Negotiating Committee had called for this survey of the membership following the recent rejection and overwhelming disappointment of the AMFA-SWA AMT TA. We would like to thank all of you who participated in the survey. Your feedback will help guide your Negotiating Committee to pursue an agreement worthy of the membership's approval. Next week your Negotiating Committee will be meeting to review and analyze the survey data and membership comments, which will be used to prepare a proposal to present at our next negotiation session.

September 27, 2018 -- We are a little more than one week following your voice being loudly heard in the rejection of the tentative agreement (TA). We would like to thank all of you who voted, as it may have been the highest participation level in AMFA history. After we received the results of the TA referendum on September 18, 2018, we immediately contacted the Company and informed it that the TA had failed. We then contacted the Mediator and informed her of the result. In addition, we informed her that we are surveying our members to determine the reason(s) the TA was rejected. We requested that she propose dates to reconvene mediated bargaining as soon as possible.

September 18, 2018 -- The AMFA-SWA Negotiating Committee has called for a survey of the membership regarding the recent rejection of the AMFA-SWA AMT Tentative Agreement. Your feedback will help guide your Negotiating Committee to pursue an agreement worthy of the membership's approval.

September 18, 2018 -- Today, Southwest Airlines (SWA) Aircraft Maintenance Technicians (AMTs) rejected a tentative agreement put forward for a referendum vote. According to the union’s National Executive Council, the group rejected the contract because the economic package overall falls short. In the next week, AMFA will survey the AMT group to confirm the reason for rejection.

September 18, 2018 -- The votes for the AMFA – Southwest Airlines (SWA) Aircraft Maintenance Technician (AMT) Tentative Agreement (TA) Ratification Referendum were tallied on September 18, 2018. Votes for this referendum were counted and certified by TrueBallot, Inc. and the results are as follows...

September 6, 2018 -- In the past few days there have been some concerns, accusations, and assumptions on the merit of the ongoing AMFA–SWA AMT Tentative Agreement Ratification Referendum. The National Executive Council (NEC) has researched this matter and ascertained that over the weekend a member was momentary able access and view the real-time running results. Download: 20180905_TrueBallot_Ltr_re_SWA_TA_Referendum.pdf

September 4, 2018 -- At this time most members have received personalized voting instructions in the mail for the AMFA–SWA AMT Tentative Agreement (TA) Ratification Referendum. It was brought to our attention over the weekend that several individuals started floating a misconception that the voting period for this referendum had ended as well as an unofficial document containing false final percentages and results.

August 30, 2018 -- SWA Offer, By the Numbers: This contract represents eleven years of our lives, and it is in no way out of line for all of us to expect to be rewarded for our efforts in the success of this carrier. Southwest has never had a better economic environment to reward our group than they have today.

August 24, 2018 -- Southwest Airlines (SWA) has been one of the most profitable companies in the U.S. airline industry. Frontline employees have been direct contributors to those record profits; however, SWA Aircraft Maintenance Technician have endured a pay freeze and healthcare cost increases since August 16, 2012.

August 24, 2018 -- One of the strong messages we discussed at each station during our Tentative Agreement (TA) Roadshow was to be on the lookout for Company messages taking the following form: “If you vote no and this TA is rejected, then [something bad] will occur."

August 16, 2018 -- The AMFA – Southwest Airlines (SWA) Negotiating Committee has requested a system-wide referendum regarding a Tentative Agreement (TA). The complete text of the TA was emailed to each member’s company email address for your review and consideration. If you have not received the TA, please contact the Administration Director at 720-744-6629.

July 15, 2018 (Revised 8/12/18) -- On April 10, 2018, AMFA and Southwest announced an Agreement in Principle (AIP) on a new five year Agreement. The AMFA Committee has been working with the Company over the last ten weeks drafting the new language, and we now have a Tentative Agreement (TA) ready for membership consideration. The full TA has been emailed to each member’s Southwest email for review. Download: 20180627_AMFA_SWA_TA_Highlight_Sheet.pdf
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AMFA_SWA_AMT_Neg_Road Show Schedule_2018 R3 8-11-2018.pdf

June 28, 2018 -- The Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) and the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (SWAPA) welcome the June 20 announcement by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) that the agency will be auditing the Federal Aviation Administration’s oversight of Southwest Airlines operations. The OIG stated, “we are concerned whether FAA’s oversight includes an assessment of the carrier’s ability to identify hazards and analyze and mitigate risks.”

June 27, 2018 -- After almost six years of negotiations, the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) and Southwest Airlines (SWA) announced a tentative agreement (TA) on a proposed contract for the airline’s Aircraft Maintenance Technicians.

June 19, 2018 -- We understand emotions are high during this time, but we again ask for your patience as the parties work to finalize conversion of the Agreement in Principle (AIP) to a Tentative Agreement (TA).

May 29, 2018 -- We hope you all had a great holiday weekend. As everyone should know by now, on April 10, 2018, AMFA and Southwest Airlines announced an agreement in principal (AIP). This did not stop the hard work by both sides to turn the AIP into to a Tentative Agreement (TA). Since that time, both sides have presented total language packages on the AIP, and as of our last update -- Update #64, dated May 5, 2018 -- the parties had identified about seventeen issues with each other’s language that needed to be worked out. We have continued to work with the Company to bring those issues to a close.

May 5, 2018 -- We wanted to provide you with an update on the status of our Agreement in Principle (AIP) with Southwest Airlines (SWA). The Company assembled all of our previously tentatively agreed sections into one full document in the days following the achievement of the AIP.

April 25, 2018 - The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating last week’s tragic incident on Southwest Airlines Flight #1380 and our Southwest Airlines (SWA) Accident Investigation Team (AIT) Representatives are actively participating in the investigation. During the course of an active investigation we will not speculate or comment about the incident. Download: Emergency_AD_2018-09-51.pdf

April 18, 2018 -- The Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) would like to extend our heartfelt condolences to the family of the passenger who lost her life due to yesterday's tragic event on Southwest Airlines Flight #1380. AMFA is grateful that our SWA family (pilots and flight attendants) and their professional skill set delivered the other beloved customers to safety. AMFA wishes to keep the passengers, flight crew, and families of SWA Flight #1380 in our prayers.

April 17, 2018 -- The reported accident on Southwest Flight #1380 from New York La Guardia (LGA) to Dallas Love Field (DAL) and was diverted to Philadelphia (PHL) has prompted the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) to dispatch Accident Investigation Team (AIT) Representatives. Our AIT Representatives are currently in route to PHL and we are maintaining constant communication with them to support their activity during this investigation.

April 11, 2018 -- The parties met on Monday, April 9, 2018, for a scheduled two-day negotiation session in Dallas, TX. Your Committee delivered a counterproposal to the Company’s last pass from our previous March session. That proposal contained a reduction in our snap-up ask from 16.9% to 16.7%, and we informed the Company we were not interested in the additional ETOPS relief it had requested or elimination of the Outsourcing Liaison Representative (OLR) position.

April 6, 2018 -- In March 2018, AMFA National called for nominations to fill the position of Primary AMFA – Southwest Airlines (SWA) Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) Event Review Committee (ERC) Representative. SWA members of Locals 4, 11, 18, and 32 were allowed to submit names in nomination for this position. Following the close of the Willingness to Serve process of this election, there is only one candidate for this position: John Paonessa.

April 6, 2018 -- In March 2018, AMFA National called for nominations to fill the position of Primary AMFA – Southwest Airlines (SWA) Outsourcing Liaison Representative. SWA members of Locals 4, 11, 18, and 32 were allowed to submit names in nomination for this position. Following the close of the Willingness to Serve process of this election, there is only one candidate for this position: Nino DiMaggio.

March 10, 2018 -- No good deed goes unpunished. Your Committee attempted to focus on the positive aspects of this week’s negotiations with Southwest; however, Southwest decided instead to denigrate your Committee even at a time when the parties are closer to a deal than they have been since these negotiations began. The fact the Company cannot seem to alter its path of negative propaganda speaks volumes as to its negotiation playbook. Let us focus on the actual facts from this week.

March 8, 2018 -- The parties met in Dallas, TX for a scheduled three-day session beginning Tuesday, March 6, 2018. Your Committee wanted to provide you with an immediate update from this week’s session. The parties worked late into the evening today – Thursday, March 8. This week provided one of the most productive sessions the parties have had in many years.

February 26, 2018 -- The recent vote of no confidence taken and issued by the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (“AMFA”) has absolutely nothing to do with ongoing collective bargaining. It was you, and not AMFA, that attempted to connect safety with contract negotiations. The truth is there exists a serious concern regarding the degradation of safety within Southwest’s maintenance program as determined by the Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”).

February 9, 2018 -- - Ken Hackett has been reimbursed by Southwest Airlines for all lost wages during his wrongful termination. Your voices of support were heard and played a pivotal role in this outcome. Download: 20180209_L11_Hackett_Arbitration_Update.pdf

February 2, 2018 -- Southwest Airlines is seeking terms to withhold Ken Hackett’s back-pay in the amount of the Go Fund Me account that was established by Local 11 to support him during his 10 months of wrongful termination. Every Member who donated should be outraged at this spiteful tactic executed by Southwest leadership. Download: 20180202_L11_Hackett_Arbitration_Update.pdf

January 26, 2018
Dear AMFA-SWA Members:
Southwest Airlines (SWA) set another record profit, earning $3.49 billion in 2017, up from $2.24 billion in 2016. In 2017 the Company spent $1.9 billion on dividends and repurchasing stock, making the remaining shares more valuable. Yesterday, SWA released information for the fourth-quarter profits, which jumped to $1.

January 24, 2018 -- The Company provided a counter at the conclusion of our session last week that was not discussed in our previous update because it rejected our remain-at-book Article 2 concept and, therefore, was not an apples-to-apples proposal. As explained in our previous update, when the Company rejected our Article 2 remain-at-book concept, the economics associated with that approach as we proposed became inapplicable; however, the details of this Company counter are...

January 19, 2018 -- The parties met in Washington, DC for a scheduled two-day session beginning Thursday, January 18, 2018. Your employer, Southwest Airlines, is not interested in achieving a deal to reward you for your hard work and dedication – this was made abundantly clear to your Committee by the Company this week. The Company provided a long-awaited counter-proposal to commence the session, which included some of the following...

December 7, 2017 -- Due to the recent election of the Alternate AMFA–SWA Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) Event Review Committee (ERC) Representative to the Primary position, AMFA National is conducting an election to fill the vacated Alternate position for the remainder of the term.

November 16, 2017 -- The Southwest Airlines Facilities Maintenance Technicians, represented by the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA), ratified their first collective bargaining agreement. The new five-year contract includes a complete set of work rules, wage scale, ratification bonus, and job protections.

November 16, 2017 -- The votes for the AMFA – Southwest Airlines Facilities Maintenance Technician 2nd Tentative Agreement Referendum were tallied on November 16, 2017. Ballots for this referendum were counted by AMFA National, and the ballot count was certified by a Notary Public. The results of the referendum are as follows:

November 2, 2017 -- Southwest Airlines (SWA) has, once again, demonstrated its lack of respect for the aircraft maintenance technician (AMT) group and our contract. The days of Herb’s SWA are long gone, and the current management would prefer to breach your contract first and arbitrate, as opposed to engaging in a productive collective bargaining relationship. It is, quite simply, disgusting.

October 25, 2017 -- AMFA National is in the process of filling the recently vacated position of AMFA-SWA Accident Investigation Team Alternate Party Coordinator. We are seeking one individual well versed in all aspects of aircraft maintenance. The Alternate Party Coordinator will be responsible for assisting the Primary Party Coordinator with the responsibilities of team administration, preparing the annual team budget, ensuring team members are properly trained, as well as other duties as assigned by the National Safety and Standards Director. Download: AMFA Accident Investigation Team Application FF.PDF

October 24, 2017 -- Bret Oestreich, National Director of the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA), announced that the union will be filing legal action that could disrupt Southwest Airlines’ plan to initiate service to Hawaii in 2018. “Southwest Airlines has the lowest ratio of mechanics to aircraft of any major carrier,” commented Oestreich. “Now, the carrier wants to expand its service over open waters without accepting direct responsibility for the airworthiness of its aircraft. Not only is this irresponsible, but it is a direct violation of our contract, and we are not going to allow it to happen.”

October 10, 2017 -- Votes for the Primary AMFA – Southwest Airlines (SWA) Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) Event Review Committee (ERC) Representative Election were tallied October 10, 2017. TrueBallot Inc. conducted the vote and tally by use of the TeleVote® and WebVote® systems, and the results of the election are as follows...

September 20, 2017 -- On August 17, 2017, AMFA and Southwest Airlines finished the last scheduled negotiation session for the foreseeable future. The AMFA Negotiating Committee has made the decision to go out and explain where we are in the process, what issues remain open, and to answer questions from the membership.

September 19, 2017 -- On July 13, 2017, Southwest terminated an Aviation Maintenance Technician (AMT) for deviating from “all required procedures included in MT 735-00-01. The letter of termination indicates that the Company relied on surveillance tape to determine that the AMT may have allowed a second mechanic to sign for work that the AMT had performed: “security video evidences that a second AMT did not enter the area of the flight crew oxygen cylinder and therefore, required processes and/or procedures of MT 735-00-01 were not completed.”

September 18, 2017 -- Hurricane Harvey made landfall on August 26, 2017, ravaging southeastern Texas. Soon after, on September 10, 2017, Hurricane Irma tore through Florida. Thousands of Americans have been displaced from their homes due to the catastrophic damage caused by these two storms, including many of our brothers and sisters from AMFA Local 18.
While airports in Houston and greater Florida have reported to be functioning at full speed, many of our AMFA brothers and sisters are still taking time off from work, tirelessly struggling to rebuild their homes damaged by the wind and flood waters. In an effort to help ease the burden of our members affected by this devastation, an AMFA 18 Hurricane Benefit GoFundMe page has been established. Please click the following link to support our fellow members. Every penny counts: https://www.gofundme.com/amfa-18-hurricane-benefit.

September 13, 2017 -- We met with the Company in Dallas, TX on Tuesday, September 12, 2017. During this one-day session we again reached an Agreement in Principle (AIP) for the initial Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) for your workgroup. This AIP includes changes to the tentative agreement (TA) voted down by the membership in December 2016.

September 6, 2017 -- Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) members of Local 32 will conduct informational picketing on Sunday, September 10, 2017, from 8 a.m. to noon at Oakland International Airport in Terminal 2 to inform the public about their continued plight for a fair contract with the Southwest Airlines (SWA). The union has been in negotiations with SWA for more than five years.

September 5, 2017 -- Due to the recent resignation of the Primary AMFA–Southwest Airlines Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) Event Review Committee (ERC) Representative, AMFA National has begun the process of filling the vacated position in accordance with AMFA National Policy.

August 18, 2017 -- The parties met in Dallas, TX for a scheduled two and one-half day session beginning Wednesday, August 16, 2017. The goal of this session was to make an attempt to bridge the gap between the parties’ most recent positions. As a reminder, the Company’s response to our counter-proposal in July was to remain with the economic position that it passed over a year ago in August 2016. The parties engaged in an open discussion and entertained mediator supposals, but were unable to make significant progress toward reaching an agreement that adequately rewards you for your hard work and time devoted to this Company. In addition, the Company remains entrenched in its position that is must secure significant changes to your Article 2: Scope provision as part of any deal.

August 16, 2017 -- AMFA National Director Bret Oestreich released the following statement: August 16 marks the five year anniversary of our professional and committed aircraft mechanics working without a contract or pay raise. During this period, the shareholders of Southwest Airlines and new CEO Gary Kelley have reaped the financial benefits of our record profits. Instead of following the standard set by former CEO Herb Kelleher and rewarding the hardworking men and women who built our once proud airline, Gary Kelly is taking a selfish and possibly dangerous approach.

August 14, 2017 -- AMFA National Director Bret Oestreich has released the following statement: On behalf of the Southwest Airlines (SWA) aircraft maintenance technicians (AMTs), ground support equipment technicians, plant maintenance technicians, maintenance controllers, and maintenance trainers, AMFA members will be conducting informational picketing in Chicago, IL and Phoenix, AZ on August 16, 2017, marking the five year anniversary of the AMT contract amendable date.

July 28, 2017 -- In a memorandum entitled “Compliance Culture” dated July 7, 2017, Landon Nitschke and Trevor Stedke wrote that safety has always been the “top priority” of SWA maintenance operations. Notwithstanding this purported priority, the memorandum conceded that the FAA and Department of Labor have received an “uptick” in complaints from SWA Aircraft Maintenance Technicians (AMTs) relating to management coercion, which the federal agencies have taken “very seriously.” Download: factsheet-whistleblower-aviation-industry.pdf

July 21, 2017 -- We at the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association would like to express our deepest sympathy and full support of your efforts to address the disturbing hostility towards frontline employees at Southwest Airlines. What makes this even more disturbing is that the individuals creating this hostile environment in the workplace are management – senior executives and labor relations personnel.

July 19, 2017 -- Your Committee began the first day of the scheduled three-day session by delivering a comprehensive counterproposal to the proposal passed by the Company at the last session. Our counterproposal was a cover-to-cover package, which was designed to provide the Company with relief on the issues it has claimed it needs while also providing you with a compensation package that maintained our historical margin above the industry.

July 19, 2017 -- Due to the recent resignation of the AMFA Accident Investigation Team Party Coordinator, we are beginning the process to fill the vacated position. We are seeking one individual well versed in all aspects of aircraft maintenance. The Party Coordinator will be responsible for team administration, annual team budget, ensuring team member training, and other duties as given by the National Safety and Standards Director. Download: AMFA Accident Investigation Team Application FF.pdf

July 19, 2017 -- After many months of work there has been a change in the Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) at Southwest Airlines (SWA). Our ASAP came under 14 CFR, part 121 and AC 120-66A as an air carrier engaged in passenger operations within the United States.

June 27, 2017 -- Bret Oestreich, National Director of the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA), released the following statement: “After almost five years of unproductive negotiations with Southwest Airlines led by CEO Gary Kelly, more than 100 members of the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association Local 32 will be conducting an informational picket at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport on Friday, June 30."

June 23 2017 -- We concluded this week’s mediated session working diligently as a Committee in an effort to finalize a counterproposal to the comprehensive proposal the Company delivered earlier this week. Unfortunately, this proved to be a very time consuming task as the Company’s proposal did not identify the language it had removed from current book or previous passes. This forced your Committee to undertake the lengthy process of comparing the Company’s latest proposal word-by-word against current book and prior proposals.

June 20, 2017 -- We commenced a three-day mediated negotiation session today in Dallas, TX. We spent the morning and early afternoon working with the Mediator in an effort to reach a compromise on Article 2: Scope; however, the Company refused to move from the position that it had taken in the May session held in Washington, DC The Company was not interested in continued discussions on scope. Instead, as alluded to by Russell McCrady, who is conspicuously absent from these sessions, the Company only wanted to pass its “comprehensive proposal.”

May 25, 2017 -- As the transition and integration process begins for Alaska Airlines and Virgin America, and Aircraft Maintenance Technician negotiations continue at Southwest Airlines, National Director Bret Oestreich has taken this opportunity to send the membership of AMFA this video update.

May 23 -- During negotiations with Southwest Airlines (SWA) our members have not reaped any of the rewards of year-over-year record profits. Since the amendable date of our contract, August 16, 2012, the sacrifices for AMTs have far outweighed the Company’s financial record profit success. Since 2012, shareholders and SWA executives have been profiting off their returns from stock repurchases and dividends, while our members have not benefited or received improvements in wages, benefits, or compensation that reflects the Company’s strong financial stance.

May 8, 2017 -- We met with the Company on May 1–4 for a scheduled three and one-half day session at the National Mediation Board Offices in Washington, DC. Contrary to recent communication from the Company, Friday, May 5 was intended as a travel day. Our Committee communicated this to the Mediator weeks in advance of this session; therefore, the Company’s assertion that “AMFA opted to leave negotiations early” is, at best, a misstatement. At worse, this is an intentional misrepresentation designed to divert focus from the Company’s lack of meaningful negotiation at this session.

April 24, 2017 - The National Executive Committee (NEC) would like to thank everyone who participated in the AMFA–SWA Aircraft Maintenance Technician (AMT) Survey that concluded on April 20, 2017. The NEC continues to make improving communications a priority, and this survey is one means to facilitate this process.

April 21, 2017 -- We met with the Company on April 18-20 for a scheduled three-day session in Santa Rosa, CA. This session was intended to return discussions to the main body of the contract with a specific focus on Article 2: Scope.

April 11, 2017 -- We met with the Company in Dallas, Texas on Wednesday, March 29. This was a scheduled half-day session to discuss the appropriate action to again come to a tentative agreement (TA) that could be ratified. The Committee presented the Company with a prioritized list of twelve items we believed needed to be adjusted.

April 5, 2017 -- We met with the Company on March 30 and 31 for a scheduled day and a half session in Dallas, TX. This was our third mediated session to again try and work through the open items related to the Technical Instructors. Following conclusion of our previous session, the Company sent a written counterproposal via e-mail to the Technical Instructor Appendix B proposal that our Committee presented on March 7, 2017. The AMFA Committee reviewed the Company’s counterproposal and started the March 30 session off by asking the Company to clarify a number of its positions.

March 23, 2017 -- The National Executive Council has called for a survey of the membership at Southwest Airlines (SWA) regarding contract negotiations. This survey will be conducted via the TrueBallot Inc., WebVote® system. All active members in good standing employed by Southwest Airlines under the Aircraft Maintenance Technicians contract are eligible participate in this survey.

March 9, 2017 -- We met with the Company on March 6 and 7, for a scheduled day and a half session in Dallas, TX. This was our second meditated session to again try and work through the open items related to the Technical Instructors. We began the half-day session in the afternoon of March 6 with the Company; our first task was to perform a thorough review of what sections remained open.

February 22, 2017 -- We met with the Company on Tuesday, February 14, 2017, for a scheduled three-day Aircraft Maintenance Technician (AMT) negotiation session. As we completed the Maintenance Controller specific language last week, we returned to work on the Maintenance Technical Instructor language. Unlike the Controllers who will have an Appendix in the back of the book for their unique language, the Instructors will not require an Appendix as their current rules are more aligned with the current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

February 16, 2017 -- Yesterday Southwest Airlines filed a lawsuit against AMFA National, AMFA Local 11, and several individual AMFA officers and contract negotiators. The lawsuit alleges that AMFA-represented mechanics initiated an overtime boycott and that AMFA and the other defendants failed to make “every reasonable effort” to prevent the boycott and/or bring it to an end. As a remedy, SWA is seeking wide-ranging injunctive relief that would implement judicial oversight of how you perform your maintenance work.

February 13, 2017 -- We met with the Company February 7 and 8, 2017, to continue negotiations on the Maintenance Control Appendix. As has been noted in earlier updates, the Appendix for the Controllers will contain all language that is specific to their group and will reside in the back of the Mechanics’ Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

February 11, 2017 -- As you know, AMFA is currently engaged in collective bargaining with Southwest Airlines pursuant to the Railway Labor Act (RLA). The RLA mandates that the parties are required to refrain from “self help” until released by the National Mediation Board (“NMB”) from mediation and a thirty-day cooling off period has expired. This means that during the negotiating process Southwest is prohibited from initiating a lockout or unilaterally changing the terms of our collective bargaining agreement (CBA). Southwest is also prohibited from implementing a divide and conquer strategy based on direct negotiations with our members. Based on our determination that Southwest has violated its legal obligation in this regard, we have commenced litigation against the carrier in federal court.

February 7, 2017 -- This is the third update, which details the factual allegations contained in the complaint against Southwest Airlines that was filed with the federal court in Phoenix, Arizona. The second update detailed Southwest’s unpreparedness to engage in meaningful negotiations. This update will provide insight into the allegations of Southwest’s regressive bargaining tactics contained in the Complaint.

January 30, 2017 -- This is the second update detailing the factual allegations contained in the complaint against Southwest Airlines that was filed with the federal court in Arizona. The first update detailed Southwest’s take-it-or-leave-it approach to bargaining. This update will provide insight into the allegations that Southwest has repeatedly come to the bargaining table unprepared to engage in meaningful negotiations.

January 13, 2017 -- The following illustrations speak for themselves. With each day that passes, we continue to lose money. We have lost our standing in the industry due to the Company’s outrageous demands for concessions on our workgroup, which has worked tirelessly to ensure the success of our Company during a time of record profits. Demand that the Company negotiate in good faith and provide us the contract that we deserve.

January 13, 2017 -- The Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) has received their third key supporter in its ongoing contract negotiations with Southwest Airlines and CEO Gary Kelly. The Transport Workers Union Local 555 has written a letter to show their support of the men and women of AMFA as they are still pursuing a contract with Southwest Airlines after more than four years of negotiations. Download: 20170106_Support_Letter_from_TWU555.pdf

January 10, 2017 -- We met with the Company on January 5, for a scheduled day-and-a-half mediated negotiation session to continue work on the Maintenance Controller appendix language. As noted earlier, the appendix for the Controllers will contain all language that is specific to their group, and it will reside in the back of the Mechanics’ Collective Bargaining Agreement.

January 4, 2016 -- The Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) has received another key supporter in its ongoing contract negotiations with Southwest Airlines (SWA) and CEO Gary Kelly. The union of SWA Flight Attendants, TWU Local 556, threw its support behind AMFA as they enter into the 53rd month of their contract negotiations with the airline. Download: 20161230_Support_Letter_from_TWU556.pdf

December 29, 2016 -- The votes for the AMFA – Southwest Airlines Facilities Maintenance Technician Tentative Agreement Referendum were tallied on December 29, 2016. Ballots for this referendum were counted by AMFA National, and the ballot count was certified by a Notary Public. The results of the referendum are as follows...

December 29, 2016 -- Over the course of the coming days and weeks we will provide updates detailing the factual allegations contained in the complaint against Southwest Airlines that was filed with the federal court in Arizona. It is important that each of you understand the allegations contained in the lawsuit that was filed on your behalf.

December 22, 2016 – The Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) today received the valuable support and backing of the Southwest Airlines Pilots’ Association (SWAPA). The announced support comes as AMFA representatives enter their 52nd month of contract negotiations with an airline that is enjoying record profits. SWAPA President Jon Weaks sent a personal letter to AMFA National Director Bret Oestreich to acknowledge they are siding with the Association over Southwest Airlines management. Download: 20161220_Support_Ltr_from_SWAPA.pdf

December 20, 2016 -- The Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) has sued Southwest Airlines (SWA) management officials to cease any and all forms of direct dealing and harassment directed toward AMFA members. At issue are repeated efforts by SWA to provide false and misleading information about contract negotiations to their airline mechanics. AMFA filed suit last Friday in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona seeking declaratory and injunctive relief against Southwest Airlines, claiming SWA’s efforts violate the Railway Labor Act.

December 18, 2016 -- As many of you have already heard, AMFA filed a federal lawsuit on Friday in the District Court in Phoenix against Southwest Airlines. The lawsuit was filed to address the bad faith bargaining tactics employed by Southwest that have resulted in you being unjustly subject to more than four years of pay freezes while Southwest continues to reap hundreds of millions of dollars in profits.

AURORA, CO -- Friday, December 16, 2016 -- The Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) today filed suit in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona seeking declaratory and injunctive relief against Southwest Airlines, claiming the carrier has committed multiple violations of the Railway Labor Act during contract negotiations.

December 16, 2016 -- AMFA is accusing Southwest Airlines of negotiating in bad faith, misrepresenting negotiations to AMFA members, and interfering with the AMFA representatives’ efforts to represent their AMFA members. Following is a copy of the suit filed with the United States District Court for the District of Arizona.

December 9, 2016 -- As reported on Aircraft Maintenance Technician (AMT) Negotiations Update #48, during our session last week the Company proposed a comprehensive Maintenance Control Appendix of Differences that would reside separately in the back of the contract. We worked prior to this session to determine if we would give the Company the Appendix or if we wanted to stay with our concept of working the Maintenance Control rules into the current contract language. In the interest of productive bargaining, we decided to make a sizeable move by agreeing to the Company’s concept of a Maintenance Control Appendix, but we would need to work with the Maintenance Controller Subject Matter Experts (SME) to ensure the language was acceptable for their group.

December 6, 2016 -- The votes for the AMFA – Southwest Airlines Cleaner/Utility (Appearance Technician) Negotiator were tallied on December 6, 2016. Ballots for this election were counted by AMFA National, and the ballot count was certified by a Notary Public. The results of the election are as follows...

December 6, 2016 -- In November 2016 AMFA National called for nominations to fill the vacant position of Primary AMFA – Southwest Airlines (SWA) Outsourcing Liaison Representative. SWA members of Locals 4, 11, 18, and 32 were allowed to submit names in nomination for these positions. Following the close of the Willingness to Serve Form process of this election, there is only one candidate for this position: Nino DiMaggio.

December 2, 2016 -- We met with the Company in Dallas, Texas in the afternoon of Monday, November 28, for a scheduled one and a half day mediated negotiation session. Since the Company has remained unresponsive to our proposed resolutions to their “must have” items, we chose to use the afternoon to work on some non-economic items that we previously proposed. The first of these items was a Vacation Bank. Although the Company had previously agreed to a “40 hour Roll-Over” program, its concept of allowing only 40 hours maximum from a previous year to be rolled-over and used in the following year fell short of our original proposal. We have previously met with the Company’s technical representative in negotiations and she explained that our Vacation Bank proposal would be easily administered and that they would just create another “bucket” mirroring sick time, current year vacation, floating holidays, etc. to keep track of an employee’s banked vacation.

November 23, 2016 -- Approximately 200 AMFA-represented Appearance Technicians at Southwest Airlines recently ratified a contract extension by an overwhelming margin. The extension replaces the current collective bargaining agreement. Some notable parts of the agreement are...

November 23, 2016 -- Article 6, Section 11.d reads: “An employee whose shift ends after working twenty (20) consecutive hours but not greater than twenty-four (24) consecutive hours (including any shift/day trades) will be given a mandatory rest period of at least eight (8) hours before being allowed to report to work again. In the event that this period extends into a scheduled work shift after at least twenty (20) consecutive hours the Employee will be paid for such time lost at his regular straight time rate.”

November 22, 2016 -- The votes for the AMFA – Southwest Airlines Appearance Technician Letter of Agreement (LOA) Referendum were tallied on November 22, 2016. Ballots for this referendum were counted by AMFA National, and the ballot count was certified by a Notary Public. The results of the referendum are as follows...

November 15, 2016 -- Article 10, Section 7 reads: “Temporary vacancies of 30 days or less for Inspectors will be filled on a daily basis by seniority preference with a General Inspector working out of his classification in that work group first; if there are none, then the overtime callout procedures will be utilized for General/Alternative Inspectors.”

November 10, 2016 -- As you may have read in your Company e-mail, the Company has started a campaign to poll you directly regarding the status of the negotiations. Your Negotiating Committee is asking that you refrain from participating in any voluntary survey or request for information presented by the Company – even if it is disguised as a sincere program to deliver information to you.

November 8, 2016 -- There are two major components to the concessionary changes to Article 8: Field Service currently proposed by the Company. The first is domestic field service, which we have performed for over forty years. The second component is international field service, which we have performed since the AirTran acquisition. The Article 8 language does not differentiate between the two, and our position is that the current language applies evenly regardless of location of the broken aircraft.

November 4, 2016 -- We met with the Company in Dallas, Texas, on Tuesday, November 1, for a scheduled two and a half day mediated negotiation session. The entire Company committee was physically present at the bargaining table; however, it is difficult to characterize their actions as bargaining or negotiating. Instead, the Company presents its must-have demands, and if we do not agree wholesale the discussion concludes.

November 1, 2016 -- The AMFA Negotiating Committee will begin issuing Fact Sheets pertaining to the AMFA-SWA Aircraft Maintenance Technician (AMT) Contract Negotiations. We will start this Fact Sheet series by listing the articles and items that remain to be resolved...

October 24, 2016 -- The AMFA – Southwest Airlines Negotiating Committee has requested a system-wide referendum of the Appearance Technician classification regarding a Contract Extension Letter of Agreement (LOA). The complete text of the LOA was emailed to each member’s company email address on October 25, 2016. If you have not received the LOA email, please contact the Administration Director at 720-744-6629.

October 21, 2016 -- The Company is once again attempting, to go around your elected Negotiating Committee in an effort to sway you to pressure your Union into putting the Company’s last take-it-or-leave-it offer out for a ratification vote. You must ask yourself one important question: Is the Company pressing this so hard because it wants what is best for you and your career, or because top leadership is pressuring the Company’s committee to secure a deal on its terms? The answer could not be clearer.

October 11, 2016 -- Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) and Southwest Airlines (SWA) have agreed to terms on a tentative agreement for SWA Aircraft Appearance Technicians. AMFA will be communicating the terms of the extension agreement in the coming days.

October 7, 2016 -- We met with the Company in Dallas, Texas on Monday afternoon, October 3, 2016. This short session was focused on an off-the-record discussion surrounding how our scope language will apply as the Company transitions into the MAX maintenance program.

October 6, 2016 -- October 6, 2016 -- At our last session we reached an Agreement in Principle (AIP) for the initial Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) for your workgroup. Over the next several weeks we reviewed the document that was sent to us from the Company. During this review exercise we found several items that would require further discussions with the Company.

September 20, 2016 -- Louie Key, National Director of the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association, released the following statement: “On behalf of the Southwest Airlines aircraft maintenance technicians, ground support equipment technicians, plant maintenance technicians, maintenance controllers, and maintenance trainers, the members of AMFA Locals 4, 11, 18, and 32 will be conducting informational picketing in several cities on September 23, 2016. Those cities are Chicago, IL; Dallas, TX; Houston, TX; and Phoenix, AZ..."

September 2, 2016 -- After over three years of negotiations, yesterday, the AMFA Negotiating Committee reached an Agreement In Principle (AIP) with Southwest Airlines (SWA) on the initial contract for the Facilities Maintenance Technicians. This provides a framework where one did not exist before including union security and job protections.

August 30, 2016 -- We have heard from many of you expressing your extreme displeasure at having received the Company’s latest propaganda piece in both your Company email inbox and at your homes. Your Committee and your Union are listening to all of your concerns in this respect, and we share your displeasure. AMFA is reviewing all legal options to address this practice.

August 23, 2016 -- We met with the Company in Dallas, Texas on Wednesday, August 17, 2016, for a scheduled full-day Facility Maintenance Technician (FMT) Section 6 direct bargaining session. After the Company directly polled our members on what they proposed during our last session, our Committee was prepared to present a proposal that would realistically resolve all the language and economic needs.

August 11, 2016 -- We heard from you, the members, at the outset of these negotiations that you were not interested in a concessionary agreement. Your Committee has maintained that position and protected your directive throughout this process. The proposal presented by the Company this week was nothing short of just that – a concessionary agreement whereby you would fund your own raises by selling your language. The Company wants us to sell our work, our ability to earn overtime and quality of life work rules wholesale in order to fund the economic package you will see in this update.

August 3, 2016 -- (DALLAS) – Boards of directors from the four largest unions at Southwest Airlines, representing nearly 38,000 of SWA’s approximately 50,000 employees, all completed votes of “no confidence” in the CEO and COO of the airline. The representative organizations include the flight attendants (TWU 556), mechanics (AMFA), pilots (SWAPA), and Ground Operations (TWU 555) employees.

August 3, 2016 -- AMFA met with the Company in Dallas, Texas on July 26–28, 2016, for a scheduled mediated session. To begin the session, the AMFA Negotiating Committee chairmen met with the mediator, and with her guidance we worked as a Committee to again prepare a list of our "asks" to be presented to the Company. AMFA later met with the Company and presented our list, which included...

August 1, 2016 -- After discussion with the AMFA-SWA Negotiating Committee and affected local leadership, the AMFA National Executive Council (NEC) joined the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (SWAPA) in conducting a Vote of No Confidence in Southwest Airlines Executives, particularly its Chief Executive Officer, Gary Kelly and Chief Operating Officer, Mike Van de Ven.

July 22, 2016 -- By Conor Shine, The Dallas Morning News -- Southwest Airlines employees were back on the picket line in Dallas Friday -- this time with mechanics gathering to voice their displeasure with contract negotiations that have dragged on nearly four years.
Click here to read more.

July 22, 2016 -- By Bill Zeeble, KERA News -- It’s been a bumpy week for Dallas based southwest Airlines. This week, a computer outage took down its website, forcing 1,300 flight cancellations, and stranding passengers and crews. Then, despite a record second quarter profit, its stock price fell. Today, hundreds of union members picketed at Love Field over stalled contract talks. Click here to read more.

July 22, 2016 -- AMFA members stood their ground today in an effort to raise awareness of the status of negotiations with Southwest Airlines (SWA). Over 200 aircraft maintenance technicians from AMFA joined with pilots from the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (SWAPA) and flight attendants from the Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 556 to express their displeasure with the pace of negotiations as well as the position of the carrier. They were stationed around Love Field where folks driving to and from the airport could see the frustration as well as witness the solidarity amongst labor groups.

July 22, 2016 -- We met with the Company in Dallas, Texas on Thursday, July 14, 2016, for a scheduled half-day Facility Maintenance Technician (FMT) Section 6 direct bargaining session. The Company presented their next economic proposal with a wage scale that added 1.5% above their last offer based on a 14 step progression. The proposal scale would have a topped-out FMT with no certificates or licenses paid $25.72 per hour on date of signing and increasing 2% a year to $27.84 per hour in year 2020...

June 28, 2016 -- Votes for the Alternate AMFA – Southwest Airlines (SWA) Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) Event Review Committee (ERC) Representative Election were tallied on June 28, 2016. TrueBallot Inc. conducted the vote and tally by use of the TeleVote® and WebVote® systems, and the results of the election are as follows...

June 10, 2016 -- We bring to your attention an important matter: earlier today attorneys for Southwest Airlines wrote to AMFA Legal alleging that our members were engaged in an illegal “job action” by coordinating to refuse overtime work in Houston. In addition, Landon Nitschke, V.P. of Maintenance Operations, sent a letter dated June 9, 2016, to all AMFA-represented Employees making the same allegations.

May 18, 2016 -- AMFA proudly joined Southwest pilots and flight attendants in a show of labor solidarity at the SWA annual shareholder meeting in downtown Chicago. "It was a momentous occasion where mechanics joined with pilots and flight attendants to express our extreme displeasure with the pace of negotiations at SWA," said Justin Madden, National Secretary/Treasurer.

May 16, 2016 -- We met with the Company on May 10, 11, and 12, 2016, for a scheduled three-day session in Dallas, TX. Since we were back in Dallas and had access to our Subject Matter Experts (SME), we scheduled this session to work exclusively on Maintenance (MX) Control language. This would be our first session with the Maintenance Controllers since we entered Mediation, and we looked forward to working through the remainder of the outstanding issues in an interest based format.

May 11, 2016 -- Louie Key, National Director of the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association, released the following statement: "On behalf of the Southwest Airlines aircraft maintenance technicians, ground support equipment technicians, plant maintenance technicians, maintenance controllers, and maintenance trainers, AMFA members will be joining the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (SWAPA), and the Transportation Workers Union (TWU) Local 556, which represents the Southwest Airlines Flight Attendant group, for an informational picketing event at the Annual Shareholders’ meeting held in Chicago on May 18."

May 4, 2016 -- As you know, we are currently engaged in collective bargaining with Southwest Airlines (SWA) pursuant to section 6 of the Railway Labor Act. During the collective bargaining process, the parties are required to refrain from “self help” until we have been released from mediation and a thirty-day cooling off period has expired.

May 2, 2016 -- We met with the Company in Dallas, Texas on Tuesday, April 25, 2016, for a scheduled two-day Facility Maintenance Technician (FMT) Section 6 direct bargaining session. There were three main issues remaining that needed to be resolved to achieve a tentative agreement: Lead Selection, Longevity, and Wages. We have been working for several months outside of negotiations on the wage portion and it was the Company’s turn to provide a counter offer. To open, the Company said that they rejected our Lead Selection procedures, which we proposed based on seniority.

April 29, 2016 -- Many of you have likely read the Company’s latest memorandum, which was emailed to all the affected AMFA employees. It is obvious the Company released this propaganda in an attempt to get 50% of our members plus 1 to buy into what it is peddling. After reading the propaganda piece a few times, it validates the account that was documented in AMFA–SWA Technicians Negotiations Update #40, from our Chicago sessions.

April 21, 2016 -- We met with the Company in Chicago, IL on April 14-15 and on April 18-20 for mediated Aircraft Maintenance Technician (AMT) and related negotiations. Unfortunately, these were the most unproductive sessions since we entered into mediation. Of the four and a half days scheduled, we actually met with the company for less than four hours.

April 12, 2016 -- In March 2016, AMFA National called for nominations to fill the position of Primary AMFA – Southwest Airlines (SWA) Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) Event Review Committee (ERC) Representative. Southwest Airlines members of Locals 4, 11, 18, and 32 were allowed to submit names in nomination for this position. Following the close of the Willingness to Serve process of this election, there is only one candidate for this position: Larry Dildine.

April 11, 2016 -- In February 2016 we posted for two AMFA– Southwest Airlines (SWA) Accident Investigation Team (AIT) positions. Over the past few weeks we have reviewed applications and interviewed all applicants. This process proved to be a difficult process due to the talent and experience of the candidates who applied.

March 30, 2016 - We met with the Company in Kansas City, MO on Tuesday, March 22, 2016, for a scheduled three-day Aircraft Maintenance Technician (AMT) and Related mediated negotiation session. We began by presenting our drafted language detailing the "New Line Station" issue that we agreed to in principle at our last meeting (detailed in Update #38). After a short caucus, the Company agreed to our language and the piece was tentatively agreed to. The Company then presented their reply to our "Bereavement" issue (40 hours instead of the current four days) where they added "steps" and "grandparents" to the list of family members that would qualify for this provision. The Company also presented their reply to our "Temporary Supervisor" issue that we discussed at length during our last session.

On behalf of the TWU Local 555 members in California and Florida who were subjected to unjust suspensions during the holiday season, I would like to sincerely thank the members of AMFA National, AMFA Local 4, AMFA Local 11, and AMFA Local 32 for your generous support. Download: TWU Local 555 Thanks AMFA For Support of Suspended Members.pdf

We met with the Company in Dallas, TX on Tuesday, February 16, 2016, for a scheduled three-day Aircraft Maintenance Technicians (AMT) and Related mediated negotiation session. We resumed our discussions from our last session regarding the opening of new maintenance stations. The concept the Company introduced was only for new maintenance stations with day and evening coverage where there would be no routine "planned" work (i.e. MV checks, aircraft part time changes, etc.).

We met with the Company in Dallas, TX on Monday afternoon, February 1, 2016, for a scheduled one and a half day Aircraft Maintenance Technicians and Related (AMT) mediated negotiation session. In our current "Interest Based" format, it was the Association’s turn to bring forward a topic of discussion; we chose Article 23: No Strike-No Lockout. Article 23 remained unresolved and we wanted to take this opportunity to have open discussions and express our concerns regarding this topic as it pertains to the past history of current Company leadership.

We met with the Company on January 5, 2016, for a scheduled three (3) day Aircraft Maintenance Technician and Related (AMT) negotiation session at the National Mediation Board (NMB) headquarters in Washington, DC. We began the morning meeting as a Committee and worked with the Mediator to re-establish the list of our concerns and positions regarding Articles 21 and 22.

Recently, over 100 members of TWU Local 555 were suspended after attending a union meeting to gain information and discuss the status of their negotiations. The Local is utilizing the grievance process to make things right but, in the meantime, these fellow union brothers and sisters are having to deal with this difficult situation over the holiday season.

The reported accident on Southwest Flight 31 at BNA (Nashville, TN) has prompted the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) to dispatch an accident investigation “Go Team.” Our Team is currently on location and we are maintaining constant communication with them to support their activity and ensure representation of our craft. They will work with Southwest Airlines, and potentially as a party with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation team from Washington, DC to determine probable cause.

We met for our first mediated Aircraft Maintenance Technician and Related (AMT) negotiation session on Monday, November 30, 2015, in Irving, Texas. This session was scheduled for a half-day, and we worked exclusively with the Mediator. The Mediator worked with our Committee and the Company separately throughout the afternoon. We spent our time with the Mediator presenting a summary of the unresolved issues that the AMTs have requested. In this initial meeting we focused only on items that we were seeking to achieve in this contract, and we did not spend time defending our current contract language as related to Company proposals.

A meeting was recently held with Southwest Airlines to discuss the payroll issues AMFA members are experiencing. The meeting was related to a large percentage of payroll discrepancies when calculating overtime and otherwise. The meeting entailed discussion and disclosure by the Company on the amount of discrepancies they have found, and we reviewed charts they have compiled depicting the errors.

At the direction of the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) and with full support and solidarity from AMFA Locals 4, 11, 18 and 32, union attorneys have filed a lawsuit in federal court in Dallas, Texas to set aside or “vacate” an arbitration ruling received on October 19, 2015 in the “Brake Rider” arbitration.

November 6, 2015 -- As our two negotiating committees prepare to meet later this month in our first mediated negotiation session, it is obvious to me that Southwest Airlines is at a critical crossroads in terms of its labor relations. As you are aware, our contract has passed the 3-year mark of the amendable date and it has been very difficult to make sustained progress in our negotiations. Entering mediated negotiations provides us the opportunity to make meaningful headway towards reaching an agreement; one that is vitally needed as the employees of Southwest Airlines are questioning the direction of the relationships that have always been the cornerstone of Southwest’s success.

We met with the Company in Dallas, Texas on Tuesday, October 20, 2015, for a scheduled half-day session for Facilities Maintenance Technician (FMT) negotiation. We also had scheduled the morning on Wednesday, October 21, 2015, if more time was needed. We began the session by presenting a graph showing that based on Company’s Article 15: Wage Rates proposed rates, the FMT group would experience a 4.5% pay cut.

First, we would like to notify you that we have dates scheduled for our first mediated Aircraft Maintenance Technician (AMT) negotiations. We will meet in Irving, Texas at 1:00pm on November 30, 2015, and two full days are scheduled for December 1 and 2, 2015. This will be our first negotiation session since we sought the assistance of the National Mediation Board in July 2015. Although the mediator stated that observers would not be allowed in the room for our initial meetings, if there is interest, we will establish a break-out room that we can give updates during caucuses for any members who desire to attend.

On Thursday, September 10, 2015, our Committee had our first meeting in the mediation process. This meeting was with four mediators from the National Mediation Board (NMB), including Senior Mediator Patricia Sims and Mediator Catherine McCann who are assigned to our case. This initial meeting lasted about two and a half hours. During the introduction process we were notified that Ms. McCann will be our primary mediator.

I would like to let everyone know that the MCO taxi event was NOT accepted into the Aviation Safety Action Program. The Event Review Cmmittee is working on a closure letter that will have recommendations and corrective actions. As soon as we have that finished, I will forward it to the National Secretary/Treasurer for distribution.

We met with the Company in Dallas, Texas on Wednesday, August 12, 2015, for a scheduled one-day Facilities Maintenance Technician (FMT) negotiation session. The Company had been working on their economic proposal for several months and we were presented with their opening proposal for Article 15: Wage Rules. The Company stated that they based their proposal on nationwide industrial averages for the purposes of pay and duration to reach the thereafter rate (topped-out).

Propaganda is defined as "information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view." On July 20, 2015, you received exactly that in the form of an un-signed memorandum from Southwest Airlines "Labor Relations" titled, "Negotiation Clarifications." Unlike correspondence that you receive from your Union, which always bears indication of the individual authors, the Company memorandum was conspicuously anonymous. We all must question why those responsible for propaganda are unwilling to take personal responsibility for its issuance.

Recently AMFA filed notice with the National Mediation Board (NMB) requesting their services to help facilitate negotiations for our Aircraft Technicians at Southwest Airlines (SWA). We have been in direct negotiations with SWA for almost three years and there is no agreement in sight.

Despite enjoying record profits last year of $1.1 billion, Southwest Airlines refuses to have meaningful negotiations with its Aircraft Maintenance Technician and Related union, the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA), prompting the union to request federal mediation from the National Mediation Board (NMB).

The parties were scheduled to meet on Thursday, June 25 to resume Aircraft Maintenance Technician ("AMT") negotiations. However, Facilities Maintenance Technician ("FMT") negotiations were cut short by a full day due to the Company’s lack of preparation. Therefore, the parties agreed to resume AMT negotiations a day early on Wednesday, June 24, 2015.

We met with the Company in Dallas, Texas on Tuesday, June 23 for a scheduled two-day session that was touted by the Company as the big event in the Facilities Maintenance Technician (FMT) negotiations, where the Company would present Articles 14 and 15: Wage Rates and Wage Rules. Prior to this session, the Company conveyed its belief that with the pass of Wages, the remaining open issues would fall into place and a tentative agreement would not be far off. Unfortunately, after your Committee traveled to Dallas in hopes of engaging in multiple days of productive negotiation, the Company was not prepared to deliver its ground-breaking Wage proposal due to a "last minute" issue.

Dear Mr. Kelly: I write today in response to your memorandum to Southwest employees of June 11, 2015, entitled, “Together We Win” and to also express my profound disappointment at the lack of meaningful progress in the ongoing contract negotiations for our members covered by the Aircraft Mechanics’ Contract. Our contract became amendable on August 16, 2012, and we are quickly approaching the third year of ongoing rigorous negotiations. When we started these negotiations we anticipated that we would reach a tentative agreement and the negotiations would conclude in a reasonable timeframe, especially in light of the unprecedented profits being enjoyed by Southwest Airlines which our members play a significant role in achieving. Unfortunately, this has not been the case.

During our last session of talks on April 21, 2015, the respective committees tentatively scheduled a two-day session for June 3 and 4, 2015. At that time, the Company said they were not sure if they would be ready to give us anything new on the remaining open items in their supposal. Then on May 27, the Company emailed our Committee the Company’s status of remaining issues to be resolved in these negotiations.

The parties were scheduled to meet on Tuesday, June 2, 2015, to resume Aircraft Maintenance Technician (AMT) negotiations; however, the Company communicated that it did not have any new positions or proposals for Facilities Maintenance Technician (FMT) negotiations scheduled for June 3 and 4. Upon receiving this notification, our negotiation committee requested a schedule change for the week to include AMT and FMT negotiation final preparation on June 2, AMT negotiations on June 3, and FMT negotiations on June 4.

Recently, Southwest Airlines posted a memorandum regarding its interpretation of the results regarding the AIR21 filed by one of our DAL-based Aircraft Maintenance Technicians (AMT) last year. We believe that the Company left out an important aspect of the findings. The AIR21 that was filed initiated two investigations: one by the Department of Labor (DOL); and another by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

On May 6, 2015, AMFA National requested names of volunteers willing to serve in the AMFA –Southwest Airlines Alternate Outsourcing Liaison Representative position from the affected locals. Following the deadline for locals to submit volunteers to AMFA National, the National Executive Council has selected Scott King to fill the position of Alternate Outsourcing Liaison Representative commencing on July 1, 2015.

In March 2015 AMFA National called for nominations to fill the position of Alternate AMFA – Southwest Airlines (SWA) Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) Event Review Committee (ERC) Representative. Southwest Airlines members of Locals 4, 11, 18, and 32 were allowed to submit names in nomination for this position. Following the close of the Willingness to Serve Form process of this election, there is only one candidate for this position: Larry Dildine.

We met with the Company in Dallas, Texas on Tuesday, April 21, 2015, for a scheduled two-day negotiation session. Although, we were prepared to work on all counter offers that we expected from the Company, they notified us at the onset that they had little prepared and that they could only envision meeting for one day. They also notified us that they were not prepared to present any of the other unopened Articles including wages and duration.

The parties were scheduled to meet on Thursday, April 23, 2015 to resume Aircraft Maintenance Technician (“AMT”) negotiations. However, Facilities Maintenance Technician (“FMT”) negotiations were cut short by a full day due to the Company’s unwillingness to move on certain issues. Therefore, the parties agreed to resume AMT negotiations a day early on Wednesday, April 22, 2015. The Company presented a counter-proposal to the comprehensive proposal that AMFA passed on March 11, 2015.

April 20, 2015 -- In March 2015 AMFA National called for nominations to fill the positions of Primary and Alternate AMFA – Southwest Airlines Outsourcing Liaison Representatives. Southwest Airlines members of Locals 4, 11, 18, and 32 were allowed to submit names in nomination for these positions. Following the close of the Willingness to Serve Form process of this election, there is only one candidate for these positions: Craig Hamlet.

AMFA delivered a comprehensive proposal to the Company on Wednesday, March 11, 2015. A comprehensive proposal is one where every Article and Letter of Agreement operates as one. AMFA advised the Company at the outset of the delivery that no single article or provision could be read in isolation and AMFA reserved the right to consider the Company’s rejection of any single article as a rejection of the entire comprehensive proposal. Your Committee devoted a lot of work to develop this comprehensive proposal, and we will not allow the Company to pick and choose the pieces it prefers.

We met with the Company in Dallas, Texas on Tuesday, March 3, 2015. We were prepared to receive the Company’s counter proposals to the five (5) articles we presented at the last session: Article 4: Classifications, Article 5: Hours of Service, Article 6: Overtime and Holidays, Article 9: Seniority, and Article 10: Filling of Vacancies. Although we were making progress on finding common ground on these articles following the established procedure, for some reason the Company decided to redirect the process by presenting us with a "Supposal" that listed 14 items they felt were the main obstacles in these five (5) articles.

We met with the Company in Dallas, Texas on Tuesday and Wednesday, February 17-18, 2015. The Company stated they had five (5) articles to present counter offers: Article 4: Classifications, Article 5: Hours of Service, Article 6: Overtime and Holidays, Article 8: Field Service, and Article 9: Seniority. First, the Company presented their Article 5 counter offer, which captured the "Flex Schedule," but rejected our proposal to allow the member to select his extra day off in the second week. The Company also rejected our proposal that introduced a ten-hour shift option.

Southwest Airlines and a Southwest mechanic have settled a “whistleblower” case in which the mechanic said the airline threatened to punish him for reporting fuselage cracks that grounded a Southwest airplane. Southwest on Jan. 16 agreed to pay $35,000 in attorney’s fees and expenses for mechanic Charles Hall, who discovered the cracks as he was doing a maintenance inspection on a Boeing 737-700 last July.

We met with the Company on Wednesday, January 14, 2015, in Dallas, Texas for the first day of a scheduled two-day session. Upon conclusion of our last session in December, the Company advised they would have an Article 2 proposal prepared to present at this session; however, due to a personal issue with one of their main Subject Matter Experts (SME) on Article 2 related items, we were informed that they would not be presenting an Article 2 proposal during this session.

We met for Aircraft Maintenance Technician (AMT) and Related negotiations on Wednesday, December 10, 2014, for what was originally scheduled as a two-day session that was reduced down to one. The Company requested the shortened session to focus on opening up articles not yet negotiated, particularly Article 2: Scope. The Company informed us prior to the session that they were not prepared to present a proposal on Scope, but rather would focus on providing another presentation on the EPIC Program, which our Committee requested following the last inadequate presentation on the issue.

December 18, 2014 -- We met with the Company in Dallas, Texas on Tuesday, December 9, 2014, for a one-day negotiation session to continue our negotiations for the Facilities Maintenance Technicians (FMT). The Company started by presenting counter offers for Article 2: Scope, Article 4: Classifications, Article 5: Hours of Service, Article 8: Field Service, and Article 10: Filling of Vacancies. Again, like in our last session, the Company’s Article 2 counter omitted our language that would offer overtime to FMTs prior to using vendors to perform work the FMT’s normally perform outside their normal work hours and weekend.

We met for Aircraft Maintenance Technician (AMT) and Related negotiations on Wednesday, November 12, 2014, for a scheduled two-day session. The first day we had our Maintenance (MX) Control Subject Matter Expert (SME) in attendance to help work through MX Control issues, and the second day we had our Technical Instructor SME present to help work through Instructor issues. Our goal was to achieve some resemblance of progress by focusing on each group separately as opposed to trying to work through language with both groups present as we have in prior sessions.

We met with the Company in Dallas, Texas on Monday, November 3, 2014, for a scheduled two-day Facilities Maintenance Technician (FMT) negotiation session. The Company presented counter offers for Article 2: Scope, Article 4: Classifications, Article 9: Seniority, Article 5: Hours of Service, and Article 10: Filling of Vacancies. In the Company’s Article 2 counter, they omitted our language that would ensure that available FMTs were solicited to perform work after hours or on their weekend prior to using a vendor. In Article 4, the Company’s counter offer removed the classifications of Lead, Electrical Technician, HVAC Technician, and Locksmith Technician from our proposal and grouped all the FMTs into a general classification without Leads.

On Wednesday October 15, 2014, we met with the Company in Dallas, Texas for a scheduled two-day Aircraft Maintenance Technician (AMT) and Related negotiation session. Prior to this session the Committee exchanged correspondence with the Company as to the agenda for the session. The Company advised that it was working on proposals (counter) for articles 4, 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 20, and 24, and that they wanted to reopen the previously tentatively agreed (TA’d) to Article 7 to address language specific to the Technical Instructors. With the exception of Article 10, all of these articles have been worked on extensively and have undergone multiple passes from both sides.

We met with the Company in Dallas, Texas on Tuesday, October 14, 2014, to resume Facilities Maintenance Technician (FMT) negotiations. The Committee crafted counter proposals in response to the seven (7) articles passed by the Company at our last session. We began by presenting a counter offer for Article 2: Scope where we added job protection language. We then presented Article 4: Classification in which we added a Lead Classification and broke down the FMT category into four (4) groups: general, HVAC, electrical, and locksmith.

The votes for the AMFA – Southwest Airlines Inspection Backfill Award Distribution Referendum were tallied on October 9, 2014. Ballots for this referendum were counted by AMFA National, and the ballot count was certified by a Notary Public. The results of the referendum are as follows...

We met with the Company in Dallas, Texas on Wednesday, September 17, 2014, for a scheduled two day Facility Maintenance Technician (FMT) negotiation session. We began with the Company presenting their counter proposals for articles 13: Sick Leave and On-The-Job Injuries and 20: Insurance Benefits. After working to understand the Company’s positions, we took a committee caucus to work on our counter offer. When we reconvened, the Company accepted our counter offers and we tentatively agreed (TA) to these articles.

The AMFA – Southwest Airlines Airline Representatives have requested a system-wide referendum of the Inspectors and Alternate Inspectors regarding two separate distribution methods for the Inspection Backfill Award.

We met for Aircraft Maintenance Technician and Related (AMT) negotiations on Wednesday, September 10 and the afternoon of Thursday, September 11. The Company began discussions by notifying us that they were prepared to present their counter offers for Article 11: Vacations, Article 12: Leaves of Absence, Article 13: Sick Leave and On-The-Job Injuries, and Article 20: Insurance Benefits. They began with their Article 12 counter offer where they omitted their request to install language detailing a three (3) year limit to any absences, which would result in an employee being removed from the seniority list.

We met with the Company in Dallas, Texas on September 3rd and 4th for a scheduled two-day session. We began with the Company proposing Article 12: Leaves of Absence, Article 13: Sick Leave and On-The-Job Injuries, and Article 20: Insurance Benefits. Their proposals regarding these articles were basically capturing rules that the Facility Maintenance Technician (FMT) group is currently working under, which are outlined in the Guideline to Employees. After we worked through the Company’s proposals we presented our proposals for Article 6: Overtime and Holidays and Article 8: Field Service.

We began the scheduled two-day Aircraft Maintenance Technician (AMT) negotiations on Wednesday, August 13, 2014. The Company started with presenting a proposal for Article 9: Seniority. This Article was tabled during a previous session by our Committee due to the Company’s unwillingness to accept our proposal to shorten the time an individual could temp upgrade to a supervisor. In the Company’s proposal there were three changes: the first two were in paragraph 4 c & d which would limit a Technician from bumping into Maintenance Control or Technical Training in case of furlough, and the last was in paragraph 12 which was a selection process similar to the field service selection process.

As previously notified, the purpose of the July 30 and 31, 2014, Aircraft Maintenance Technician (AMT) and Related negotiations was to work on Maintenance Controller and Technical Trainer specific requirements. On July 29 we worked with the Maintenance Controller Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) Steve Day, Rob Cush, and Tim Andrais to identify items in Articles 5, 6, and 7 we would work to resolve in this session. We also identified that Articles 9, 10, 14, and 15 as articles we will need to address for both the Controllers and Trainers in future sessions.

Today, the FAA has announced a proposed fine to Southwest Airlines (SWA) regarding maintenance done at outside vendors. AMFA is a staunch supporter of safety, and as is a steady theme in our current contract negotiations with SWA, we believe that our members provide the best maintenance available and should always be the providers of choice. AMFA’s membership is comprised of highly skilled, trained, and professional aircraft maintenance technicians who take their mantra, “Safety in the air begins with quality maintenance on the ground,” seriously. We look forward to working with Southwest Airlines now and in the future, and support any attempt to have more work done in-house and by our members.

We began the scheduled two-day Aircraft Maintenance Technician (AMT) negotiations on Wednesday, July 9, 2014. Due to the recent departure of Mr. Sokol, we were unsure of the direction for this session. We requested information from the Company prior to the session so that we could prepare to ensure our time at the table was used as efficiently as possible; however, an informative reply from the Company never came. The only message we received from the Company prior to meeting was that their Chairman was unsure if his new committee would be pursuing the same, less, or more "must have" items.

We began our two-day session on Wednesday, June 25 at Dallas, Texas. We started by presenting our first proposal for Article 9, Seniority. The language we presented was taken from the Mechanics Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with a few omissions that did not apply to this workgroup. We also presented our counter offer for Article 22, Arbitration. We entered discussions surrounding the selection process of an arbitrator-specifically the guidelines that would invoke an alternate method of selection to be enacted.

We met in Dallas, Texas on Wednesday, June 18 for the first of a scheduled two-day Aircraft Maintenance Technician (AMT) negotiations session. Surprisingly, the Company did not begin this session with yet another presentation, but rather decided to reiterate their five (5) "must have" concessionary items...

Ten union leaders at Southwest Airlines have sent a letter to chairman and CEO Gary Kelly telling him that employee morale at the Dallas carrier is the worst it’s ever been and that action is needed to restore the “magic.”

We met in Dallas, TX on May 21, 2014, for a scheduled two-day Aircraft Maintenance Technician (AMT) negotiation session. The Company began the session with another PowerPoint presentation, which detailed that our Company posted record revenue, operating profit, and net income in the first quarter; however, despite the present financial health of our Company, the presentation ended with the Company’s position that because Spirit and Allegiant are increasing their domestic growth, they "are coming for us."

We met on Tuesday, April 29, 2014, in Dallas, TX to begin a scheduled one and a half day Facilities Maintenance Technician (FMT) negotiation session. Several days prior to the meeting, the Company sent our legal counsel, Lucas Middlebrook, a counter offer for Article 22: Arbitration. We knew when we scheduled this session that our attorney had a prior commitment and would not be present for April 29 or 30 so we notified the Company that we will hold off on a reply to Article 22 until our next session.

On Wednesday April 16, 2014, we met in Phoenix, Arizona for a scheduled day and a half negotiation session. This session was initially planned as a full two day session back in January, but the Company requested that we reduce the second day to a half day in order to accommodate Good Friday travel schedules. The session began with yet another Company PowerPoint presentation explaining that the Company will post a substantial quarterly profit, but that the Company still wants, through concessions in our CBA, to prepare for speculative bad times.

In March 2014 AMFA National called for nominations to fill the position of Primary AMFA – Southwest Airlines (SWA) Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) Event Review Committee (ERC) Representative.
Southwest Airlines members of Locals 4, 11, 18, and 32 were allowed to submit names in nomination for this position.

For the first time in AMFA's history at Southwest Airlines, both the Union and the Company mutually agreed to move contract negotiations outside of the state of Texas. Session 18 of the Aircraft Maintenance Technician (AMT) and Related negotiations was held in Phoenix, AZ to allow our Local 32 members and observers from other locals the opportunity to physically see their union at work in negotiations.

We met with the Company in Dallas, TX on Tuesday, March 25, for a scheduled day and a half Facilities Maintenance Technician (FMT) negotiation session. The Company began by presenting "Article 17: Safety and Health." The proposal reorganized language from the Aircraft Maintenance Technician (AMT) CBA for clarity and slight adjustments were made to more accurately capture the FMTs’ needs with respect to safety equipment.

On Wednesday March, 12, 2014, we began our scheduled two-day session in Dallas for the Aircraft Maintenance Technician (AMT) agreement. It started with a review of where we left off from the February session in San Antonio. We then discussed our last proposal on Article 24, General and Miscellaneous, which included language to protect the current rights to both jumpseats, language that restricts supervisors from working on the aircraft, pay at the applicable rate for time spent renewing or acquiring a SIDA badge, and reimbursement for parking if not provided by the Company.

We began our two-day session on Tuesday morning, March 4th. The Company began by presenting their “Status of Agreement” counter proposal. They also asked to table “Classifications” for now. We presented our “Severance Pay” and “Union Representation” counter proposals. We worked through a few concerns and tentatively agreed (TAed) to both those sections.

We met in San Antonio, TX on Monday, February 10, 2014, to begin a scheduled two and a half day Aircraft Maintenance Technician (AMT) negotiations session. AMFA National Director Louie Key joined our committee and began the session with a speech identifying several issues that our committee feels are impeding the negotiation process. These items include the huge concessionary "wants" from the Company, the inaccurate Company updates, and the publicizing of the covered work groups’ Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) and negotiation progress on their new website. The discussion morphed from the initial statements into a fairly vigorous conversation.

We began our two-day session on Tuesday morning, January 14, 2014. Since we had not met since October, we began with a review to ensure both sides were in agreement with our progress to date. We have tentatively agreed (TA) to three articles: Training (10-22), Profit-sharing/401K (10-22), and No Strike/No Lockout (10-22). We agreed there are six articles that are in-work: Preamble, Purpose of the Agreement, Classifications, Grievance Procedure, System Board, and Savings Clause. After the update, we asked for clarification to some language in the Company’s, Moving Expenses proposal.

We had our first Maintenance Technician Negotiation session of the new year in Dallas on Wednesday, January 8, 2014. We began by going through the status of the Articles. We have tentatively agreed (TA’d) to Articles 1, 3, 17, 18, 26, and 27. We have “tabled” Articles 8, 9, 19, 21, 22, and 23 mainly because we are unable to move closer to an agreement at this time. We are also currently working on Articles 6, 4, 11, 13, 16, 24, 25, and 28. After the update, we presented our counter proposal to the Company’s Article 6 pass. For the most part we went back to current language (back to book) and rejected the Company’s new language, which attempted to strip your contractual rights to paid rest, “short hours,” and required “qualifications” to be eligible for overtime.

Today, December 6, 2013, Arbitrator Mathew Franckiewicz issued a "Supplemental Opinion and Award" in the matter of the Fourth Line grievance. This is the "remedy" award which followed the award by Arbitrator Franckiewicz issued on March 19, 2013, that found that the company had violated Article 2 of the contract by not implementing a new fourth line of maintenance earlier when the company had obtained a single operating certificate to fly AirTran planes. That "liability award" directed the parties to a "remedy" hearing, pursuant to an agreement to bifurcate the arbitration.

The AMFA Negotiating Committee and the Company met on Monday, November 18, 2013, to begin the final Aircraft Maintenance Technician (AMT) negotiation session for the year. The Company scheduled Monday afternoon to present their Comprehensive Disability and Retiree Program. In the name of good faith bargaining, we again agreed to the Company’s request which took valuable time away from the negotiating process for yet another presentation in an attempt to “set the stage” prior to their next concessionary proposal.

We began the session on October 28, 2013, with a review of where we are to-date in regards to the Aircraft Maintenance Technician (AMT) Negotiations. Articles 1, 3, 12, 17, 26, 27 and 28 have been TA’d. We have "tabled" Articles 8, 9, and 23 for various reasons. After a quick review we attempted to work through the "Temporary Supervisor" language in Article 9. We have been tasked by the membership to restrict this program from the current 75 days per year. There are many members that have issues with this program and we presented those concerns to the Company for a second time.

We began the latest Facilities Maintenance Technician (FMT) Negotiation session on Monday, October 21, 2013. After a brief review of where we left off earlier this month, the Company presented their 401K/Profit Sharing and No Strike – No Lockout counter offers. Both of these sections had only minor modifications to what we had countered at the last session. We pointed out a few oversights and notified the Company that we would review these documents further before finalizing.

We met with the Company for Facilities Maintenance Technician (FMT) Negotiations in Dallas on Wednesday, October 2. We began by discussing the FMT job classifications. Currently, the FMT group has 14 different job titles although all are capable of performing the General I job duties. We spent the morning working to understand the broad work responsibilities of the FMTs and how jobs are determined to be completed by in-house technicians versus by a vendor.

We met for half day on Monday, September 9, 2013. The Company notified us they wanted to discuss a few issues with the Technical Instructors job classification language we crafted during our last session. The Company brought in Elizabeth Bryant and Jim Sturgis for the first time so we could work directly with the people who have been shooting down our proposals. We spent the afternoon discussing the Company’s concerns in regards to the Instructors job description and how they are to work with the Corporate Training Department. We are happy to report that after spending seven (7) sessions on this issue, we have finally TA’d this item.

We met with the Company on Thursday, September 12, 2013. The Company presented their proposals for several articles including: Preamble, Purpose of Agreement, Moving Expenses, No Strike- No Lockout, Savings Clause, Grievance Procedure, and System Board of Adjustment. After we thoroughly understood the intent of the Company’s proposals, we asked for a caucus to discuss the articles and to work on counter language.

We met again on Tuesday, August 6 in Dallas to resume Mechanic Negotiations. We scheduled the day to work on the Technical Instructors Article 4 Classification language. In attendance as Subject Matter Experts (SME) assisting the Committee were Instructors Robert Geisheimer and Tucker Steele. The main focus of discussions centered on technical and non-technical training. The Company’s concern was they did not want a Technical Instructor (A&P licensed) routinely teaching non-technical classes when they could have someone without the credentials and pay rate do the same work.

Now that the Airline Representatives have successfully resolved the maintenance staffing issue in PHL and SMF, the Negotiation Committee met with the Company on July 17 to resume formal negotiation talks. After taking time to establish where we left off in April, the Company wanted to revisit the Maintenance Technical Instructor’s job classification language that we finalized on December 4, 2012. Although our committee thought we were finished with this discussion, internal adjustments recently made by the Company warranted them to present a new proposal that looked nothing like the document we negotiated previously.

After a lengthy delay, AMFA and the Company met on June 6, 2013, at Corporate Headquarters in Dallas, Texas to officially begin Section VI Negotiations for the Facility Maintenance Mechanics. To ensure the record is set, the accretion of this work group into AMFA came at a very busy time, and the Company has presented major obstacles to our members’ livelihood that is requiring the highest priority of our service. The Airline Representatives knew when the Company originally refused to incorporate the Facilities Mechanics into the current Mechanics Contract that there would be a delay in negotiating a separate Collective Bargaining Agreement.

We resumed negotiations on April 2 with the Company at the Mecca Meeting Room in Dallas, Texas. We began discussions where we left off in our last session with Article 8; the International Field Service issue remains the topic of discussions. We currently have language in LOA #1 that gives us ownership over “all international emergency field service where parts are required to return the aircraft to airworthiness.”

Unfortunately, our negotiation session scheduled for February 27 and 28 had to be cancelled due to airport closures caused by Winter Storm Rocky. We resumed negotiations on March 7 in the Mecca Meeting Room and began with an over-view of negotiations to this point. We discussed the status of information that we were waiting for regarding Articles 4 and 17, affirmed that Articles 8, 21, and 22 are currently in work, and that Articles 12, 26, 27, and 28 have been worked through and are currently TA’d.

The Negotiating Committee returned to Dallas for two scheduled days of negotiations on February 12 and 13. The morning of February 12 we spent as a Committee at the Local 11 office going over our Article 8 counter to be presented to the Company. We also spent this time dealing with our approach to an issue that has been brought to our attention in regards to what Company representatives allegedly said about the negotiations during a station visit. After lunch we met with the Company in the Mecca Meeting Room. We first asked the Company about the reports we received concerning messages from Company leaders to our members.

On January 24th and 25th we met with the Company in the newly erected Women in Aviation Conference Room at the Hangar in Dallas. We were scheduled for a full day of negotiations on Thursday and a half day on Friday. We began discussions on the Maintenance Control classification work definition for Article 4. The main point of contention centered on the Company’s ability make changes to the group’s work. After several hours of working together and explaining each side’s concerns, we decided to separate and caucus amongst our own groups. We met with the Company after lunch and were able to tentatively agree (TA) on this item with provisions that any changes to the Maintenance Controller’s work that was not typical to the industry must be mutually agreed upon by the Company and designated MOC shop representative.

On January 9th and 10th we met with the Company in the Texas Stadium Conference Room at the hangar in Dallas. Our Committee was anticipating the finalization of language for the Technical Training Instructors’ classification of work which is to be added to Article 4. At the end of our last session on December 4, we believed that both committees were in agreement on language to accomplish this, but the day before this session we were informed by the Company that they could not agree on the language due to organizational changes that moved Maintenance Training over to the Corporate Training Department headed by Managing Director Elizabeth Bryant.

On December 4, 2012, we met with the Company for a one-day session in the Executive Conference Room at the Hangar in Dallas. The discussions started with AMFA providing the Company with a proposal for the classification of work for the Technical Training Instructors which is to be added to Article 4. The Company provided AMFA with four (4) articles they had prepared for AMFA’s review: Article 1 Purpose of Agreement, Article 17 Safety and Health, Article 12 Leaves of Absence, and Article 28 Apprentice Aircraft Mechanic Program.

The Negotiating Committee is providing this update to the AMFA Membership at Southwest Airlines. This is the only official authorized source of negotiating communications by the Committee.
On November 7 and 8, 2012, we met with the Company in the Texas Stadium Conference Room at the Hangar in Dallas. The discussions again started with the Company looking for full relief from having to start the fourth line of heavy maintenance along with the other issues they discussed with the Committee on September 12, 2012. The Committee reiterated that we are not interested in the direction discussed during our previous session and that we are ready to move in a different direction.

The Negotiating Committee is providing this update to the AMFA Membership at Southwest Airlines. This is the only official authorized source of negotiating communications by the Committee. On September 12th we met with the Company in the Texas Stadium Conference Room at the Hangar in Dallas. During our session in August the Company expressed a desire to accomplish these negotiations in an expedited manner; therefore, this session was scheduled for only one day. The Company explained they would like to provide AMFA with a comprehensive proposal in an attempt to further expedite the negotiation process.

The Negotiating Committee is providing this update to the AMFA Membership at Southwest Airlines. This is the only official authorized source of negotiating communications by the Committee. On August 21st we met with the Company in Dallas in the Texas Stadium Conference Room at the Hangar. The Company started with a presentation of where they see themselves with respect to the competition and areas that need improvement.

The AMFA-Southwest Airlines (SWA) Negotiating Committee is currently scheduled to meet with Southwest Airlines management in August to amend our Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). For those of you involved in your first negotiations or for those who need a refresher please refer to the following synopsis.